This blog is an attempt to preserve, document & share Pakistan's contemporary & traditional culinary heritage. It tells stories and shares recipes from my maternal grand mother and mother's kitchens along with my own stories and memories of growing up in Pakistan.

Monday, 25 November 2013

Daal Maash was abbu’s favorite.
Ammi used to cook it frequently during winter days. Fast forward many years, my husband cannot get enough of daal Maash. I love all Lentils but somehow I never quite
liked daal Maash. Daal Maash has a very distinct nutty flavor which my taste
buds could not appreciate as a kid. There were many foods many of us did not
appreciate as kids, growing up changed that for most of us. Daal Maash, French beans and Spinach were less
favored foods for me back then.

This particular Daal Maash recipe
belongs to my Mother-in-law. Her simple technique brings out the best of Maash
daal’s flavor. I remember the left over Maash daal was always made in to a paratha
the next morning for breakfast. The cooked lentils were stuffed between two
layers of flat bread and cooked with desi ghee (clarified butter) or butter and
eaten with copper colored sweet chai – tea as the mercury hovered around
freezing point. I never said no to maash lentil paratha. I still make a paratha
out of left over Daal Maash the next day and have it with sweet chai like old
times. Somehow it transports me back to ammi’s house in winters. This is served with Home made Chappati - Flat bread. Here is the
recipe.

Add one cup of
water and let it come up to a boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to
a simmer, cover with the lid and let it cook for 45 mins. Check after 20-25
mins. Lentils in different places take different amount of time to cook. In
Pakistan Maash lentil is cooked in about 25-30 mins. In my current location I need
about 40-45 mins to cook it despite soaking it overnight. Keep an eye on it as
it cooks.

Once the water
has dried up and Lentil has cooked completely, add the dried Kasuri Methi to it
and mix. Switch off the stove.

Now prepare the
tarka. Heat the oil in a small frying pan and fry onions till gently golden.
Add Julienne ginner and green chilies to it. Add it to the lentil. I had fished
the fried items and added them to the lentil leaving out the oil in the frying
pan to control the calorie count. If you are not worried about calories then
feel free to add the oil as well.

Garnish with
Fresh green coriander and thinly chopped green chili.

Maash Lentil is
paired beautifully with fresh roti/ chappati and Mint chutney with a tomato,
cucumber, onion salad. Don’t forget to make a paratha out of the left overs the
next day and have it with sweet chai.

Sunday, 13 October 2013

Each Eid reminds me of the happy Eids
I celebrated as a kid at my maternal grandparent’s house in Rawalpindi some 20 or
more years ago. It was the hustle and bustle a day before Eid which I found
more exciting. Being the eldest grandchild, I believed my job was the most
important one. Which was to make sure
that the Mehndi – Henna was prepared well in advance by nagging ammi &
khalas (maternal aunts). Mind you this
was not the instant cone mehndi era. A lot of time and effort was put in preparing
dry Mehndi with brewed tea and mustard oil. It was left to sit for hours before it could be applied on the hands.

The kitchen was the most happening
& exciting place where Haleem and Kheer was prepared a day before
Eid. 6-8 kilos of Kheer – Rice pudding was prepared on
the outdoor firewood stove as the big cooking pan - Daighcha (Similar to a
Giant stock pot) was too big to fit on the conventional gas stoves in Barri
Ammi’s (Nani – Maternal Grandmother) kitchen. The Kheer would take 5-6 hours of
physical labor to become thick, creamy and gently pink in color. The trick to
perfect Kheer was to stir it constantly for 6 hours to ensure it does not get
burnt at the bottom of the pan spoiling the taste and smell of Kheer. That much
labor was not one man’s job. So ammi, Khalas, mamoos(maternal uncles),
sheeda-the cook, Shayra- The cleaner, Jan Bhai – The driver and Mali Baba –the
live in Gardener all took turns to stir the kheer for 6 hours. Barray Abbu(Nana
– Maternal Grandfather) was the final authority & quality control to sign off
on the Kheer before it was cooled, ladled in to serving bowls and decorated
with silver leaf, slivered almonds and
pistachios.

Those who contributed their muscle
power in stirring the Kheer were the first ones to be offered to enjoy the Kheer
on Eid day. I find myself smiling as I recall those cherished Eids I had spent
at my grandparents’ house. Technically I should be sharing the recipe for that
very Kheer but ET had asked me to write a savory, meaty post for Bakra Eid.
Hence I am sharing the Mutton Dum Piyaza recipe from ammi’s Eid Menu which was
a favorite of everyone and befits Eid Dastarkhuan perfectly. The expat Pakistanis in Far East like me will
celebrate Eid on Tuesday- 15th. Eid Mubarak to
everyone back home. Please pray for peace, stability and harmony to return to
Pakistan and let’s not forget to include the less fortunate ones in our
celebrations.

Cooking Utensil – Pressure cooker & a nonstick pan with lid. This dish is served best with Naan.

Heat 5 tbsps.
of oil in a pressure cooker and add the mutton. Sauté it on high heat for 3-4
mins till it changes color on all sides.

Add
ginger/garlic along with all the whole dried spices to the meat (Cumin,
coriander, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, and cinnamon). Fry for 1-2 mins.
Don’t let the garlic burn.

Add onions and
fry them till they are translucent. No need to brown them. Deglaze the pan as per need with
¼ cup of water and cook the onions further. Ensure nothing gets burnt at the
bottom.

Add salt and
chopped tomatoes. Cook further for 1 minute. Add about a cup of water. Mix and
put on the lid to pressure cook the meat. The meat I use takes about 15 mins of
pressure cooking resulting in 3/4 of the meat tendering done. The rest is cooked in dum(steaming).

Once the
pressure cooking has been done, remove the lid and check the tenderness of the
meat. Once the meat is tender to your liking then proceed with shifting the meat and the
liquid in to a nonstick pan to dry the water over high heat.

Watch out for
the aggressive boiling bubbles jumping out of the boiling liquid. It will
splatter on the stove and hands. Protect your hands, stove can be cleaned
later.

Once ¾ of the
liquid has dried, add 2 tbsps. of oil and cook further till all the water dries
up and the oil comes out on the sides.

Sunday, 6 October 2013

My recent work trip to Pakistan
took me to Multan (Located in the South of Province Punjab), a city I have only passed through as a kid while my father was posted at Bahawalpur many years ago. So I took this opportunity to go all
touristy in Multan and did some serious sohan halwa, multani chappals, blue
pottery shopping binging. What joy! As a kid I remember our house always had a
continuous supply of Multan’s famous sohan halwa and Kushaab’s dooda. It was regularly
served with tea & shami kebabs to the guests visiting us. Somehow these two
items were so much part of my childhood while growing up in Pakistan. Which
explains why I bought a ton of sohan halwa from Multan. I also visited the shrines of Bahauddin Zakaria
& Shah Rukhn- e – Alam and was in awe of the architectural marvels these
shrines are despite their age. The city indeed was a pleasant surprise. I also
ended up having the best ever Karahi at Ramada Multan. I am still in the
process of reverse engineering it and will share the recipe if I succeed. I
look forward to going back to Multan and enjoy some more sohan halwa in near future.

On my arrival at my
base camp - Rawalpindi, my mother in law had prepared an incredibly delicious chicken Haandi for me. She was kind enough to show me this simple and delicious recipe in her kitchen. This dish is cooked in a traditional Pakistani clay pot called Haandi. This can be served with Chappati - Flat bread or Naan.

(I have not used clay haandi- traditional Pakistani clay pot for cooking this recipe simply because of the difficulty in photographing
the food inside a haandi.)

Ingredients:

Chicken – ½ kg (boneless)

Onions – 1 cup (make a paste in blender)

Garlic – 1 tsp. (paste)

Ginger – 1 tsp. (paste)

Oil – 4 Tbsp.

Salt – ½ tsp. (adjust to taste)

Chili powder – ½ tsp. (Adjust to taste while keeping in mind the use of green chilies in the recipe)

Cumin – 1 tsp. (crushed)

Dried whole Coriander – 1tsp (crushed)

Water – ½ cup

Lemon Juice – ½ lemon (large)

White Vinegar – 1 Tbsp.

Green Chilies – 1

Fresh Coriander for Garnish

Method:

Heat the oil in a pan & add the onion paste.

On high heat let it change color to pink. It will take 5-7 minutes.

Now on medium heat add half of ginger & garlic. Also add cumin & coriander. Cook for another 1-2 mins.

Now add the vinegar and lemon juice. Mix and cook till the water reduces to half, the oil has separated on the side and the smell of vinegar has disappeared from the food. It will take about 5-7 minutes on low heat.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and green chilies. Pair it with Tandoori Roti and Mint Chutney.

Thursday, 15 August 2013

During the long summer school holidays
in Pakistan, as we roamed around the beautiful Northern areas of Pakistan for summer vacations – Muzaffarabad
– The capital of Pakistan’s side of Kashmir would be one of the stops. Hotels
were less in number in that area back then so the government guest houses were the place to
stay on such trips. Regardless of which part of northern areas one went, the
government guest houses would have one thing in common – A Kashmiri cook or
Khansama as it’s called in Pakistan. Those trips were the reason for my delicious encounters with Kashmiri chicken curry. The curry was eaten with equally divine steaming hot wood oven cooked tandoori rotis. One could smell pine trees in the rotis. For most of us who have had
Kashmiri cooks at home, we have eaten Kashmiri chicken curry at
homes many times. I learnt to make it from our Kashmiri cook as well. I have often wondered
why Kashmiri men were such good cooks. I haven’t quite found the answer yet.
The same Kashmiris from Mirpur who had gone to UK as labor in 1960-70s to fuel
UK’s textile revolution have ended up establishing UK’s most famous desi food restaurants
and Pakistani food franchises. I must also acknowledge that we Punjabis are
utterly grateful to the Kashmiris for introducing us to the most amazing Shabdegh –
Slow cooked sweet & savory lamb & turnip curry. This dish is cooked in
a clay pot sealed with dough over low heat all night long. In the morning the meat is falling off the
bone and melts in the mouth!

This post is to remember the beauty of our Kashmir, the smell of pine trees, the long summer holidays on road and the divine curry that makes me smile every time i think about it.

Here is my version of Kashmiri
Chicken Curry. I love to serve it with Naan, chappati - Home made flat bread or Rice pulao. *Cooking Utensil – Pressure cooker.

On medium heat, warm the oil in a
pressure cooker and gently fry the onions. A pressure cooker saves time in
breaking down the onions in to a paste. Once the onions are gently browned, add a cup of water and give it a pressure for 5 mins.

The same can be done without a pressure
cooker as well but it will take more than 30 mins. The water is added in intervals
to break down the onions. Then it is dried, onions are mashed up and then the process is repeated again till
the caramelized onion paste is formed.

Going back to the pressure cooking: Once the pressure is done, add whole cloves, cinnamon & cardamom to the water and onions mixture. Dry the water completely and mash the onions
till it becomes a paste.

Cook on medium heat for 5-8 mins till the
chicken changes its color and the liquid from tomato puree dries up. The oil should separate from the
gravy.

Now add diced potatoes and cook further for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Don’t let the onion paste burn.

Add 2 cups of water to the
mixture. Mix and let it boil on a high heat. Once boiled, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer(cover the pan) and cook for 25 mins till potatoes are thoroughly cooked, curry has thickened and
the oil starts floating on the top of the curry. If the curry has thickened too
much for your taste then add ½ cup of hot water and let it simmer for 2-3 mins.

I love to add a dusting of roasted & crushed
cumin seeds on the curry along with fresh chopped coriander leaves before serving.

* If you don't have a pressure cooker then let the onions and garlic ginger cook in oil, as it changes color add a bit of water and make a paste of it in liquidizer. Pour it back in the cooking pan and dry the water till oil comes out on the sides and follow the step # 3 on wards.